Why do Taiwanese women think we have no clue about their age?

[steelersman]

I understand that many Americans have no clue about the ages of Asians but I think that it is funny when Taiwanese women think they look so young.

I am guessing that most foreigners living here have a good idea what a 20,30, 40 year old Taiwanese woman looks like.

It is funny that my new students mother tries to pass herself off as late thirties. After looking at when she studied in the US and her skin, it is clear that she is between 40 and 45.

[super_lucky]

Pure, unbridled vanity is my guess.

[sandman]

That’s nothing! My dear old mum, bless her, spent most of the 1970s and a good part of the 1980s as a 35-year-old.
You don’t HONESTLY think this is limited to Asian women, do you?

[steelersman]

Well, I laughed when my one student who is trying to pass the CBEST to become a teacher in the US said that I know I look like I am 35. Maybe some old men in the US tell her that but the bags under her eyes don’t make her look like she is 35. She did tell me her real age which is 42.

[steelersman]

[quote=“sandman”]That’s nothing! My dear old mum, bless her, spent most of the 1970s and a good part of the 1980s as a 35-year-old.
You don’t HONESTLY think this is limited to Asian women, do you? [/quote]

I agree that many women lie about their age. The only difference is Taiwanese women seem to think that they really look 35. Did your mom actually believe that men thought she was 35?

[sandman]

[quote=“steelersman”][quote=“sandman”]That’s nothing! My dear old mum, bless her, spent most of the 1970s and a good part of the 1980s as a 35-year-old.
You don’t HONESTLY think this is limited to Asian women, do you? [/quote]

I agree that many women lie about their age. The only difference is Taiwanese women seem to think that they really look 35. Did your mom actually believe that men thought she was 35?[/quote]
And if you think for even a single second that I’m about to ask her THAT question… :loco:

[TaipeiD]

They like to believe that asian women age slower than western women.

[antarcticbeech]

There is a particular strain of Taiwanese female that completely avoids exercise, sunlight, the expression of opinion and anything but the most submissive of sexual encounters. I think the intention is to cultivate a kind of pre-rigor mortis timelessness. Their eyebrows, certainly, defy modern carbon dating techniques.

But most of them are actually 35-45.

[Mucha_Man]

I often don’t have a clue about women’s age her seems I am not alone given the comments on Fcom over the years. Asian women do age slower because of their skin type and the fact they expose themselves to the sun so much less than their western counterparts.

[JuliaZ]

I can pick out the 20-30-40-50 year olds, no problem, and it’s sort of fun to play that game on the MRT… at 43 myself, I’m harder to fool these days.

However, I would have pegged my manager at 55 or MAYBE 60, and then one day at lunch, she said something about “fifty years ago, when I was working on…” – and I sat up but didn’t say anything… FIFTY years ago she was working? That means she can’t be a day younger than 65, and maybe she’s 70. I’d kill to look that good at that age!!

Joesox, did I mis-hear her? Please tell me I did. The idea of Ms. L working for FIFTY years and the required birthday for that freaks me out just a little.

[Mucha_Man]

@JuliaZ

I can pick out the 20-30-40-50 year olds, no problem, and it’s sort of fun to play that game on the MRT… at 43 myself, I’m harder to fool these days.

20 years olds? No way. Half of them look like they are 14. I mean, do you go and ask people afterwards to confirm your guesses?

As for your boss if she was speaking English she likely meant 15 years. Taiwanese always mix 15 and 50, or sixteen sixty, etc.

[steelersman]

@Mucha Man

I often don’t have a clue about women’s age her seems I am not alone given the comments on Fcom over the years. Asian women do age slower because of their skin type and the fact they expose themselves to the sun so much less than their western counterparts.

You must be kidding me. Maybe in Taiwan but in Korea, it may be only my opinion but woman’s facial skin turns from soft to hard more quickly than western women.

[TaipeiD]

@Mucha Man

I often don’t have a clue about women’s age her seems I am not alone given the comments on Fcom over the years. Asian women do age slower because of their skin type and the fact they expose themselves to the sun so much less than their western counterparts.

yep almost every woman carry an umbrella around at all times

[Mucha_Man]

@steelersman

[quote=“Muzha Man”]I often don’t have a clue about women’s age her seems I am not alone given the comments on Fcom over the years. Asian women do age slower because of their skin type and the fact they expose themselves to the sun so much less than their western counterparts.

You must be kidding me. Maybe in Taiwan but in Korea, it may be only my opinion but woman’s facial skin turns from soft to hard more quickly than western women.[/quote]

I thought this was pretty commonly understood stuff. So much so that this abstract from a paper published in the US National Library of Medicine can rather matter-of-factly state:

Traditionally, Asians have been thought to age more gracefully than Caucasians. The resistance to aging in the Asian patient was credited to the thicker dermis of Asian skin that contains greater collagen and the darker pigment that protects against photoaging. Although these statements are true, the authors propose a new paradigm that explains how the illusion of Asian youthfulness may be understood. The “baby model” purports that the Asian face has many attributes similar to an infant, including a wider and rounder face, higher eyebrow, fuller upper lid, lower nasal bridge, flatter midface, apparently more protuberant lips, and more receded chin. These commonalities between the infant and the Asian compel the viewer to perceive the Asian face as more youthful.

It goes on to explain why Asians also seem to age rapidly when they do age:

However, the Asian face is subjected to a greater amount of gravitational force due to weaker skeletal support, heavier soft tissue, larger amount of malar fat, thicker skin, and a weaker chin.

[NonTocareLeTete]

I never understood the lying about your age thing- like, if a woman says she’s 25 and she’s really 32, all I think is, damn, she looks old for a 25 year old!
My plan is to lie the other way. I’m 29 now. I’m going to start telling people I’m 42. Now that will be impressive.

Cool post by the way Mucha Man, that was interesting info and made me feel a little better

[steelersman]

Traditionally, Asians have been thought to age more gracefully than Caucasians. The resistance to aging in the Asian patient was credited to the thicker dermis of Asian skin that contains greater collagen and the darker pigment that protects against photoaging. Although these statements are true, the authors propose a new paradigm that explains how the illusion of Asian youthfulness may be understood. The “baby model” purports that the Asian face has many attributes similar to an infant, including a wider and rounder face, higher eyebrow, fuller upper lid, lower nasal bridge, flatter midface, apparently more protuberant lips, and more receded chin. These commonalities between the infant and the Asian compel the viewer to perceive the Asian face as more youthful.

Yes, this is my thought exactly. They seem young to the untrained viewer because they are smaller and look like infants when in reality many Korean and Japanese women have old looking skin due to using too much make up. I believe Taiwanese use less make up so maybe their skin looks a little better after 30. Just my

[Mucha_Man]

Traditionally, Asians have been thought to age more gracefully than Caucasians. The resistance to aging in the Asian patient was credited to the thicker dermis of Asian skin that contains greater collagen and the darker pigment that protects against photoaging. Although these statements are true, the authors propose a new paradigm that explains how the illusion of Asian youthfulness may be understood. The “baby model” purports that the Asian face has many attributes similar to an infant, including a wider and rounder face, higher eyebrow, fuller upper lid, lower nasal bridge, flatter midface, apparently more protuberant lips, and more receded chin. These commonalities between the infant and the Asian compel the viewer to perceive the Asian face as more youthful.

Yes, this is my thought exactly.

Astonishing coincidence.

They seem young to the untrained viewer because they are smaller and look like infants when in reality many Korean and Japanese women have old looking skin due to using too much make up.

Non-sequitor much? And where can I find me an “Asian trainer”?

I believe Taiwanese use less make up so maybe their skin looks a little better after 30. Just my

Seeing is believing.

[JuliaZ]

[quote=“Mucha Man”]
As for your boss if she was speaking English she likely meant 15 years. Taiwanese always mix 15 and 50, or sixteen sixty, etc.[/quote]

Good guess, but I don’t think that’s what happened here. In the next sentence, she said “forty-five years ago, blah blah”. Her English is really good. I’m not saying your suggestion is IMPOSSIBLE, but it’s very unlikely, especially given that she sort of gave me a chronological run down of her career and family life (I’d asked, nicely, and we were in that ‘getting to know each other’ phase). I don’t think most people would tell that kind of story this way: 15, 45, 40, 30, 25, 20, 10, 5 years ago… do you?

[Mucha_Man]

[quote=“JuliaZ”][quote=“Muzha Man”]
As for your boss if she was speaking English she likely meant 15 years. Taiwanese always mix 15 and 50, or sixteen sixty, etc.[/quote]

Good guess, but I don’t think that’s what happened here. In the next sentence, she said “forty-five years ago, blah blah”. Her English is really good. I’m not saying your suggestion is IMPOSSIBLE, but it’s very unlikely, especially given that she sort of gave me a chronological run down of her career and family life (I’d asked, nicely, and we were in that ‘getting to know each other’ phase). I don’t think most people would tell that kind of story this way: 15, 45, 40, 30, 25, 20, 10, 5 years ago… do you? [/quote]

You’re probably right though many Taiwanese do not tell stories in any kind of order so it’s not inconceivable.

But people have to retire at 65 here or even earlier (don’t know the exact year) so unless she is boss her working close to 70 is pretty weird.

[JuliaZ]

[quote=“Mucha Man”][quote=“JuliaZ”][quote=“Muzha Man”]
As for your boss if she was speaking English she likely meant 15 years. Taiwanese always mix 15 and 50, or sixteen sixty, etc.[/quote]

Good guess, but I don’t think that’s what happened here. In the next sentence, she said “forty-five years ago, blah blah”. Her English is really good. I’m not saying your suggestion is IMPOSSIBLE, but it’s very unlikely, especially given that she sort of gave me a chronological run down of her career and family life (I’d asked, nicely, and we were in that ‘getting to know each other’ phase). I don’t think most people would tell that kind of story this way: 15, 45, 40, 30, 25, 20, 10, 5 years ago… do you? [/quote]

You’re probably right though many Taiwanese do not tell stories in any kind of order so it’s not inconceivable.

But people have to retire at 65 here or even earlier (don’t know the exact year) so unless she is boss her working close to 70 is pretty weird.[/quote]
She is a pretty big boss (she reports directly to a C-level) but I hope I misheard her. She seriously does not look old enough to have been working fifty years. Anyway, I’m not going to ask her how old she is, so unless she has a big-0 birthday anytime soon when her age might slip, I have to stop thinking about it.